Australia questions?

Question

My, family and I were thinking about going to Australia in the summer of 2009, is it winter for Australia then? If it is, is the great barrier reef cold or is it warm. and what is "winter" for them because we live in Chicago we really don't know what "winter" is from out of the country. Will we really missing that much going then. and also when is it better to go, is it really better to go at a different time? if it is, When is the best time to go?

Answer 1

The best time to visit Queensland is November to February(hot).  It is never very cold in Queensland not like the southern states though not as cold as it would get in Chicago (only snow in the Alpine regions). It rains a fair bit between late May to the end of July warm rain.  If you go you must visit ' Wet and Wild ' (the most fun in one day). Take a rain coat and sweats to be on the safe side as well as your bathers and shorts.  Ps give  'Movie World' a miss it was boring.

Answer 2

The best time to be on The Great Barrier Reef is betqween April and September . this is the dry season in the tropics  Around Xmas time the Weather can be terrrible Hot Sticky wet monsonal Around Brisbane and the Gold Coast is semi tropical all year around is lovely Summer is December January February. Can get quite hot. Winter which is now perfect up North but cold at nights down South, Sydney adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne have had it very cold at nights lately .But the weather should be coming nice down South soon

Answer 3

You've been given some confusing advice so far. Here are the facts:

The Great Barrier Reef is over 1000km long. If you go to the Reef from Cairns, that is well into the tropics and is warm to hot all year around. The best time to visit up there for most people is in our cooler months between May and September/October which is the dry season (Cairns doesn't really have a winter). Average temperature ranges in those months are

May 20C to 27C (68F - 80.6F)

June 18C - 26C (64.4F - 78.8F)

July 17C - 25C (62.6F - 77F)

August 17C - 26C (62.6F - 78.8F)

September 19C - 28C (66.2F - 82.4F)

October 21C - 29C (69.8F - 84.2F)

The hottest month is February with 24C - 31C (75.2F - 87.8) which isn't terribly hot, but the average rainfall then is around 435mm (17in). Cairns average humidity ranges from around 66% in October through to about 79% in February so it's fairly humid all year around, though not nearly as bad on most days as people say.

It's also possible to go to the more southerly parts of the reef, and obviously, it will get cooler as you go south. If you're coming in your summer, go to Cairns which is also the gateway to our tropical rainforests and is a lovely place.

Nowhere in Australia gets winters anything like Chicago's. None of our cities have snow (apart from the odd very short-lived fall) and the 3pm temperature very rarely gets below 50F even in our most southerly (and coldest) city.

Hope this helps.